Mindful Book Club Picnic: “How Emotions Are Made” by Lisa Feldman Barrett

I’m a huge fan of this book, and really pumped to talk about it with others. I bring this up in conversation with friends often, and the ideas in here have changed how I see myself and how I interact with others in a big way.

As Nonviolent Communication is very dear to me, a big part of it is to express what I’m feeling. And so, I think this book makes sense, in trying to understand, well, WTF is a feeling, after all? How do we feel an emotion? Where do we feel them? And how would answering these questions change how I communicate with others?

There are some really huge ideas in here worth discussing. Like, emotions aren’t universal. Not all cultures feel sadness, or even anger. Wild, eh? There are no parts of the brain that light up for specific emotions - and that’s an idea I definitely used to have, with all of the brain blob images I’d see online, for fear centres and whatnot. And we don’t have a reptile brain under a mammal brain, which is under a human brain, which is also something I was taught.

Hell, this book does a lot of…undoing. I got so deep into the book that I made a whole video series on it, and I even interviewed the author back in January.

So, I want to brush up on the ideas in this book from time to time, so they don’t fade, and mid-July seems to be a good time for it. Join me for a book club picnic at Linha da Agua, not at the cafe, but on the grass across the pond. I'll bring a big white blanket and a few snacks (definitely not enough to feed a crowd). Feel free to bring your own blanket, and snacks as well if you'd like. And let's enjoy the park, the sun, and some great ideas.